Forest knocks off Vanguard

Forest's players celebrate with Joshua Greene (1) at the plate after Greene's first inning home run during a baseball game against Vanguard at Vanguard High School on Friday night.

Bruce Ackerman/Star-Banner

By Richard BurtonCorrespondent

Published: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 10:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 10:15 p.m.

Forest has the momentum it needs heading into a huge week of district play.

The Wildcats extended their string of 14 innings without allowing an earned run, as they knocked off rival Vanguard 6-2 on a cold night at VHS.

"We're pretty excited about (the string of innings without an earned run allowed)," Forest coach Wayne Yancey said. "Now we are also stringing some hits together and we're playing a lot better overall."

Forest (6-1) will host district rival Tallahassee Chiles on Tuesday night at 6:30, before facing Lincoln later in the week.

On Friday, the Wildcats got the early momentum when Joshua Greene hit the third pitch of the game near "The Tomb," in right field for a solo homer.

From there, FHS starter Anthony Mazzurco kept Vanguard (1-5) at bay, until his team pushed its lead to 6-0 after a five-run effort in the fifth.

The Knights stranded five runners over the first four innings, four of which were in scoring position.

VHS was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, as Mazzurco recorded four of his five strikeouts during these situations.

For the game, Mazzurco threw four scoreless innings and allowed just two hits with two walks.

In the fifth, Forest finally broke things open, as Jordon Austin ripped the first of his two doubles to score a run, while Hank Truluck executed a perfect suicide squeeze for a RBI single.

Richard Lagasse added a two-run single in the frame for the Wildcats and Kirby McMullen had an RBI double, before VHS finally scored twice in the fifth.